[lg0815]

hi everybody this is a tank i have been working on for a while
stats

Tank
55g 48x13x20

Light
nova extreme 108w t5 HO 1 54w 10000k bulb 1 54w 6700k bulb

substrate
4 bags of florite

filter
fluval 405 and aqua clear 70 for water circulation

Plants
frill
pygmy chain sword
amazon sword
annubius
crypts
and water lettuce

Fish
2 angelfish
4 neons
5 cories
2 neon rainbowfish
1 rubberlip pleco
and a guppie now on to the tank

Before

After

neons exploring the river

all plants before tank

can i put my light directly on my glass canopy

 

[problemman]

u can but i would use the legs that i should have come with. to be honest i was expecting crap when i read the beginning part before pics then i scrolled down and well to be honest. im shocked!! one thing i would add would be some driftwood and or rocks in the gravel area near the sand. but way to go better then most first timers!

 

[lg0815]

thanks i did my research

whats the reason for putting the legs on



could i add hairgrass

and how long will it take the micro sword to carpet i know i put pygmy sword but i was wrong

 

[ashman8080]

Nice tank! I love the sand river.

 

[angelicodin]

whats the reason for putting the legs on

could i add hairgrass

and how long will it take the micro sword to carpet i know i put pygmy sword but i was wrong

Let me try to answer all of these one at a time as best I can.

You want to have the legs on your lighting so for what ever reason if the top comes off or breaks the light will not fall in and fry everything in the tank and have the city come out to fix your breaker ;p Also it helps with not have in 'right on the glass' because of heat and evaporation. Some people might vary in this opinion.

As for the Hair-grass. With your setup it would do fine, but I noticed that you have no CO2 going. With the crazy amount of lighting you have, you really should think about getting some CO2 going. On the Flip of this, hair-grass is extremely resilient and can hold up to almost anything next to the tank running out of water or it getting eaten. A lot of people use it for carpeting but you can use it as an accent as long as you would keep an eye on it.

For how long it would take to carpet the tank with a micro sword, or the likes of the same kind of plant, that really depends on if you are going to start it off emerssed, and if you are going to add frets and/or CO2. It's really hard to put a finger on how long it would take, and for your size of a tank, but any carpet take a while(more than a month or two, ect). Sorry I can't give you a better answer with that. You have to think about it growing in a way you don't want it to, perhaps it will bush up rather than out. There are just so many things.

Hope this answers your questions or at least will get you thinking in the right path.

Also nice start you have going here. And +1 for the sand river ;p

 

[angelicodin]

Oh forgot to mention, if you do add drift wood, as per suggested by another user, make sure you boil it (and then cool down) first to remove most of the tannins, and make your tank murkey for a long time ;p

 

[lg0815]

would i be safe if i added 2 pairs of gold rams to this tank


or could i add 6 gold rams
or 4 which is a better number

 

[lg0815]

anybody anybody goit any suggestions

 

[lg0815]

sorry to post alot but new pictures and updates


got hairgrass


my hairgrass right side

micros sowrd left side

i wanted 2 different types of carpet so i seperated them by the river


anubuis nana

full tank

veiw from my couch

 

[Centromochlus]

Wow! What an improvement from your old setup!

I really like how you put the "river" to the side, instead of in the middle. Looks very natural.

6 rams would probably be too many, but 4 might be OK.

Is that anubias plant in the river berried into the sand? If the rhizome (thick "log" looking thing that the leaves spring out of) is berried, the plant will rot. Make sure it is either attached to driftwood or above the substrate.

Only suggestion i can add is to try a black background instead of the picture background.

 

[lg0815]

no its now buried in the substrate it is held in by rocks and i am going to get 2 pairs of rams tommorow post pics of them tommorow

 

[lg0815]

got my rams today 2 males 3 females for 25 bucks i thought that was a pretty good deal

cold today in michigan 25 degress so i brought a cooler to try and keep them warm

the 120 thay my rams came out of

they have 5 other tanks with 300-400+ rams combined

acclimation process using 5 gallon bucket c clamp and airline hosing

angels "bite that hose hes using to drian some water"

my current moonlight that is temporary its just the standard 15w fixture that came with the tank

NOW THE RAMS

all of the picts i could get today more tommorow when there out more